FINFOAM® & Heat Exchanger Cleaning

The FINFOAM® Process

Dirty fin fan coils reduce the cooling efficiency of heat exchangers. FINFOAM®’s low pressure, high volume cleaning process removes dirt and debris safely and thoroughly. Cooling equipment begins performing at an optimal level and the results bring multiple financial benefits. Clean exchangers result in less energy requirements allowing fans to be turned off or run more slowly. Equipment life is extended and most importantly, production can be increased where cooling has been detrimental to output.

FINFOAM® cleans blocked heat exchanger fins. Dirty fins restrict air-flow through the exchanger unit causing a significant drop in cooling efficiency and a loss in production. An environmentally friendly foam cleaner and low pressure rinse remove dirt, oil and debris from the entire heat exchanger unit. FINFOAM®’s process has been tested and proven in industrial facilities throughout the world.

A cleaning process that is eco-friendly, safe, rapid and thorough.

Our technicians use an environmentally friendly chemical foam that saturates and expands into every crevice of the heat exchanger. A low pressure rinse minimizes overspray and is safer for both personnel and the equipment. The traditional cleaning method (hydroblasting) damages delicate fins and compacts the debris into the center of the tube stack. Our process completely removes dirt, debris and corrosive elements without damaging equipment. FINFOAM® has been tested and proven in industrial facilities throughout the world.

Meeting Your Plant-Specific Needs

Your facility may pose a special challenge or have specific needs. Whether it is an oil refinery requiring a specially blended cleaning formula or a remote destination with difficult access, FINFOAM® has been tested and proven in all types of operating conditions.

Return equipment to peak performance and improve energy efficiency.

Our Heater Engineer reported that FINFOAM® worked extremely well. The before and after shows how well it thoroughly cleaned the area between the fins. With this cleaned surface the heater is now able to run more efficiently and can produce a deeper draft. FINFOAM was very easy to work with in regards to Chad walking out the 2 heaters with my Planner and providing a quote very quickly. FINFOAM delivered just the way they said they would and the final product is the improved efficiency of the heaters today.

Turnaround Planning Manager at Louisiana Refinery

Thank you for the good job your team did in cleaning our fin fans. A total of 310 fans were cleaned, and all the work was done safely. Since our fans were pretty dirty prior to cleaning, we saw a substantial benefit from the work your team did. In fact, our calculations showed that the cleaning paid out in less than a month! Thanks once again for the great work.

Energy Coordinator at Mississippi Refinery

ConocoPhillips recommends a low-pressure, surfactant foam cleaning to remove external dirt and debris from air-cooled heat exchanger tubes. FINFOAM® has cleaned numerous air coolers for both ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 and they do an exceptionally good job. We’ve also successfully externally cleaned air-cooled heat exchangers using dry ice blasting, but this is a fairly expensive operation typically reserved for use in environmentally-sensitive areas. As Wes mentioned to you earlier, high-pressure water spray can easily damage aluminum fins and for this reason is never recommended as a method for externally cleaning air-cooled exchangers.

Principal Heat Transfer Engineer from major Chemical Company, Global Production

We have returned to our usual rates on the north quench fin fans that you cleaned for us. Our quench tower overhead temperatures have decreased from 55C to 35C and the overall heat transfer coefficient on the fin fans has increased from 14 to 66. The job was a great success. Thank you for your help.

Run Plant Engineer at Louisiana Chemical Company

The FINFOAM® cleaning of Crude 2 fin fan in August produced far and away the best results. The data speaks for itself. I was also impressed by the level of professionalism and awareness for our safety culture by both you and your staff. I would recommend your services to anyone considering cleaning fin fans.

Process Engineer at Alaska Refinery

Benefits

Improved heat transfer cooling performance and unit efficiency

Increased production (throughput)

Decreased amps to run fan “hard” reduces operating costs (and in itself can pay for the entire cleaning project)

Prolonged unit life by removing corrosive deposits

Reduced maintenance cost

Zero damage to fins

Applications

Petrochemical

Refining

Gas Transmission

Gas Plants

Pulp & Paper Manufacturing

Mining & Mineral Processing

Power Facilities

Prolonged unit life by removing corrosive deposits.

CASE STUDY – Coker Unit

Eight exchangers with 2 fans each were severely plugged with coke fines and limiting the entire refinery in the southeast. Taking about 1 1/2 hrs. per fan, FINFOAM® finished the job in 2 days and gave operations an additional 25 degrees on their outlet. Previous cleaning attempts by other companies had routinely taken a week and improvements were minimal.

Annual Cost Savings: >$800,000

CASE STUDY – Alky Unit

FINFOAM® was contracted to clean a major refiner’s Alky unit, after poor results from previous attempts by competitors. With over 100 fans in the unit the job took just 12 days.

Average results showed a 35-degree increase in delta T and the payback was noticed before the job was even completed.Increased production paid for the overall job in a few weeks.